Published in conjunction with the exhibition "Spiro and the Art of the Mississippian World" organized by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and held February 12, 2021-May 9, 2021
Indexed in the Native American Artists Resource Collection Online, Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives, Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona, at the artist name level (February 5, 2021) http://5019.sydneyplus.com/Heard_Museum_ArgusNET_Final/Portal.aspx
Contents:
Foreword / Natalie Shirley, President and CEO, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum -- About the Spiro exhibition / Eric D. Singleton, PhD, Curator of Ethnology, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum -- Acknowledgments -- Mississipppian region ; Caddoan Mississippian culture: maps / produced by Wes Gutekunst and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum -- Introduction / Eric D. Singleton and F. Kent Reilly III -- Chase Kahwinhut Earles (Caddo) -- The history of Spiro / Amanda L. Regnier, Patrick Livingood, and Scott Hammerstedt -- Starr Hardridge (Muscogee) / [Starr Hardridge] -- Spiro and the surrounding sites / Patrick Livingood, Amanda Regnier, and Scott Hammerstedt -- T.C. Cannon (Caddo/Kiowa) -- Craig Mound connections to South Appalachian region / Adam King -- Mike Larsen (Chickasaw) / [Mike Larsen] -- Climate change, ritual practice, and weather deities at Spiro / Dorian J. Burnette, David H. Dye, and Arleen A. Hill -- Martha Berry (Cherokee) / Martha Berry -- The spirit lodge, Spiro ritual, and cosmic renewal / James A. Brown, Alex W. Barker, and George Sabo III -- Woody Crumbo (Potawatomi) -- The turtle, a clever warrior (who can overcome strong fortifications) / James R. Duncan and F. Kent Reilly III -- Wayne Earles (Caddo) / [Wayne Earles] -- Sacred bundles in the Craig Mound spirit lodge at Spiro / Elizabeth Horton -- Erin Shaw (Chickasaw) / Erin Shaw -- Mississippian symbolic weaponry at Spiro / David H. Dye -- Troy Jackson (Cherokee) / tjackson [Troy Jackson] -- Spiro ear ornaments and the people who wore them / Carol Diaz-Granados -- Richard Zane Smith (Wyandot) / Richard Zane Smith -- The long-nosed ear ornaments: their depth of meaning / James R. Duncan -- Margaret Roach Wheeler (Chickasaw) / Margaret Roach Wheeler -- Arrow points and other small stone objects from Spiro / Mary Beth Trubitt -- Fred Beaver (Muscogee/Seminole) -- Foundational and cosmological themes in Braden-style art / F. Kent Reilly III -- Karin Walkingstick (Cherokee) / Karin Walkingstick -- Craig-style iconography / Alex W. Barker -- Chase Earles and Starr Hardridge (Caddo/Muscogee) / Charles Earles and Starr Hardridge -- A changing canvas: narrative symbology in Native American art / Eric D. Singleton -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Exhibition object list -- Contributors -- Index
Summary:
"In eastern Oklahoma, on the banks of the Arkansas River, lies one of the most important ancient sites ever identified - the Spiro Mounds. Although they created one of the most highly-developed civilizations, the Spiroan people and their Mississippian peers are nearly forgotten in the pages of history. Explore the art, history, and singular nature of this ancient site as it rose from humble beginnings to become the most unique cultural and ceremonial center in pre-European contact North America. The quality, quantity, and variety of items discovered at Spiro is staggering. Thousands of objects, created in many different mediums, bear images of people deities, deity impersonators, animals, and mysterious composite creatures. Together, these objects form pictorial narratives that provide critical insight into the lives of the Mississippian people. Today's Native American communities in the American Southeast and the Plains, and possibly in Mesoamerica, are linked to Spiro through their use of similar imagery in historical works - hide paintings, ledger drawings, and tipi and shield covers - as well as in their twentieth-century paintings, sculpture, ceramics, basketry, and weavings. The story of Spiro is not limited to the past or focused solely on art. It is reflected in the everyday lives of people today. It is a story of how religion and the environments shape us, as illustrated through community developments, religious and ceremonial activities, farming and hunting practices, and daily life. Learn how a "Little Ice Age" beginning in AD 1350 and lasting until AD 1650 may have led to the site's decline and ultimate abandonment - an environmental threat similar to one we face today"--Jacket
